Family Sunday rugby

We arranged to meet at Café Adriatico for merienda before going to the rugby match. “I brought snacks for the game,” Dorski announced.

“Good idea! Snacks, aaarrr,” I growled, getting into violent sports mode. “What’ve we got?”

“Grapes,” she said.

“Grapes?!”

“They were on sale.”

“We can’t eat grapes at a rugby match,” I sputtered, “We’re supposed to have wild boar or venison or something. I suppose we should buy beer.”

“I’m not sure we’re allowed to bring alcohol into Rizal Memorial,” Marivic said.

So we fortified ourselves with chocolate eh and proceeded to the stadium. Sri Lanka was beating Chinese Taipei. In the next match the Philippine team was up against Singapore. Sri Lanka is the top seed, the Philippines is the third seed, and whoever wins this A5N Division 1 Tournament gets promoted to the Premiere Division. Whoever tops the Premiere Division gets a spot in the next Rugby World Cup.

“The other day I had a nightmare,” Marivic recalled. “I was yelling, ‘You forgot to put a camera by the goal!’ Clearly I need a life.” Marivic used to produce the TV coverage and I used to cover the team. This was in ancient times, when Filipinos didn’t know they had a national rugby team (i.e. two years ago). Now they know, as evidenced by the respectable crowd spread out over a third of the stands.

There weren’t this many people at the A5N Division 1 tournament last year in Ansan, South Korea, where the Philippine Volcanoes lost a close contest to the eventual champion, the hosts.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman of the Ayala Corporation, was watching the game with his mom Doña Bea and his dad Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala, chairman emeritus. Don Jaime and Doña Bea were there to cheer for their grandson Jaime Urquijo, who is the Volcanoes’ number 4. “First member of our family to be on a national team,” Don Jaime noted proudly.

Jaime Urquijo, son of Bea Zobel, Jr, joined the team in 2010. Jaime Augusto’s son Jaime Alfonso is now on the national development rugby team. If this profusion of Jaimes is confusing, remember that Jaime Urquijo looks like James Van Der Beek, the star of Dawson’s Creek.

“Remember, nerds, our cheer is King in the North!” I reminded Dorski and Marivic. (That’s ‘in,’ not ‘of,’ as Game of Thrones fans know.) Later, in the thick of the match, we realized that the only cheers we could manage were “Go!”, “Run!” and “Yay!” Fortunately there was a proper cheering squad up in the stands, with drums. We didn’t know the cheers, but I think they were doing Seven Nation Army at one point.

I spotted the familiar contingent of cousins of Michael and Jake Letts, the first Fil-foreigners to join the national team back in 2005. There are three sets of Fil-Aussie brothers on the current team: Letts, Saunders and Matthews. Fly-half Oliver and wing Matt are now playing for a Japanese rugby club, bringing to six the number of Volcanoes now playing in Japan. Their youngest brother Ben has also played for the national team, and is presently on the juniors squad. The Saunderses are all massive and ferocious, so it pleases me to know that Matt and Ben cut each other’s hair. This information came straight from their mom.

“Look, it’s our French ampon,” Marivic said, indicating number 13, Patrice Olivier. You can spot Patrice in a crowd by his legs, which start where most people have necks. “Go, Patrice!” we chorused.

“Don’t forget to renew your driver’s license!” Marivic added.

The Philippines immediately took the lead against the feisty Singapore. It was Don Jaime’s first time to watch his grandson play, and his enthusiasm was infectious. “Ayyyyyyy,” he said as the ball carrier vanished under a pile of bodies. “Wait,” he called as the ball reappeared in another player’s hands, “They’re still at it!”

Jaime Augusto was watching the game, explaining the rules to his mom, texting the scores to his sister, and commenting on the plays. “That Joe Matthews is a dynamo,” he observed as the older Matthews powered his way past the goal line. “He’s got mass and he’s quick.”

“I remember when we had the basketball team,” Don Jaime said, referring to the former Purefoods team. “It was very bad for my blood pressure. I had to leave in the last 10 minutes and take a walk to calm down.”

“Did you ever feel like punching a referee?” we asked.

“Almost,” he laughed. “Hey, we scored again!” High fives all around.

As the Philippine lead increased so did the likelihood of a final against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka fell out of the Premiere division last year; the Philippines very nearly made it. “I can smell promotion to the Top 5!” Nigel Saunders texted. Nigel and Marilou Saunders, parents of Oli, Matt and Ben, have been to all their son’s campaigns with the Volcanoes. They recall how in New Delhi in 2010, there were thousands of people cheering for the Indian team and three sets of parents for the Philippines. Who won anyway.

The days of empty bleachers are over; the Philippine team is finally playing before an avid home crowd.

A long kick sent the ball bouncing off the field and skittering into the stands. The audience ducked. “Chairman emeritus gets hit by rugby ball!” Don Jaime said.

“Ball kicked by his grandson!” we added. The Philippines beat Singapore 37-20 and climbed 10 places up the world rankings to 62nd.

In case you’re into rivalries, the Azkals are ranked about 140, but there are 205 football nations on earth, more than twice the number of rugby nations (96). Meaning they’re about even; meaning both teams are doing well.

On Wednesday at the A5N Division 1 rugby tournament the Philippines defeated Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka vanquished Singapore. The final between the Philippines and Sri Lanka will be played this weekend. We predict that the best team will win.